Abraham Lincoln

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This article is about the American president. For other uses, see Abraham Lincoln (disambiguation).

Abraham Lincoln

An 1863 daguerreotype of Lincoln, at the age of 54.

16th President of the United States

In office March 4, 1861 April 15, 1865

Vice President

Hannibal Hamlin (18611865) Andrew Johnson (1865)

Preceded by

James Buchanan

Succeeded by

Andrew Johnson

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 7th district

In office March 4, 1847 March 4, 1849

Preceded by

John Henry

Succeeded by

Thomas Harris

Member of the Illinois House of Representatives

In office December 1, 1834 1842

Personal details

Born

February 12, 1809 Hodgenville, Kentucky, U.S.

Died

April 15, 1865 (aged 56) Petersen House Washington, D.C., U.S.

Resting place

Lincoln's Tomb, Oak Ridge Cemetery Springfield, Illinois, U.S.

Nationality

American

Political party

Republican (18541865) National Union (18641865)

Other political affiliations

Whig (Before 1854)

Spouse(s)

Mary Todd

Children

Robert Todd Edward Baker "Eddie" William Wallace "Willie" Thomas "Tad"

Profession

Lawyer

Politician

Religion

Unaffiliated

Signature

Military service

Service/branch

Illinois Militia

Years of service 3 months (April 21, 1832 - July 10, 1832)

Rank

Private (May 28, 1832 - July 10, 1832) Captain (April 21, 1832 - May 27, 1832) Discharged from his command and re-enlisted as a Private.

Battles/wars

Black Hawk War

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its greatest constitutional, military, and moral crisisthe American Civil Warpreserving the Union, abolishing slavery, strengthening the national government and modernizing the economy. Reared in a poor family on the western frontier, Lincoln was self-educated, and became a country lawyer, a Whig Party leader, Illinois state legislator during the 1830s, and a one-term member of the United States House of Representatives during the 1840s. He promoted rapid modernization of the economy through banks, railroads and tariffs to encourage the building of factories; he opposed the war with Mexico in 1846. After a series of highly-publicized debates in 1858 during which he opposed the expansion of slavery, Lincoln lost the U.S. Senate race in Illinois to his archrival, Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln, a moderate from a swing state, secured the Republican Partypresidential nomination in 1860. With almost no support in the South, Lincoln swept the North and was elected president in 1860. His election was the signal for seven southern slave states to declare their secession from the Union and form the Confederacy. The departure of the Southerners gave Lincoln's party firm control of Congress, but no formula for compromise or reconciliation was found. Lincoln explained in his second inaugural address: "Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the Nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came." When the North enthusiastically rallied behind the national flag after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, Lincoln concentrated on the military and political dimensions of the war effort. His

goal was now to reunite the nation. He suspended habeas corpus, arresting and temporarily detaining thousands of suspected secessionists in the border states without trial. Lincoln averted British recognition of the Confederacy by defusing the Trent affair in late 1861. His numerous complex moves toward ending slavery centered on the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, using the Army to protect escaped slaves, encouraging the border states to outlaw slavery, and helping push through Congress the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which permanently outlawed slavery. Lincoln closely supervised the war effort, especially the selection of top generals, including commanding general Ulysses S. Grant. Lincoln brought leaders of the major factions of his party into his cabinet and pressured them to cooperate. Lincoln's Navy set up a naval blockade that shut down the South's normal trade, helped take control of Kentucky and Tennessee, and gained control of the Southern river system using gunboats. He tried repeatedly to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. Each time a general failed, Lincoln substituted another until finally Grant succeeded in 1865. An exceptionally astute politician deeply involved with power issues in each state, Lincoln reached out to War Democrats and managed his own re-election in the 1864 presidential election. As the leader of the moderate faction of the Republican party, Lincoln found his policies and personality were "blasted from all sides": Radical Republicans demanded harsher treatment of the South, War Democrats desired more compromise, Copperheads despised him, and irreconcilable secessionists plotted his death.[1] Politically, Lincoln fought back with patronage, by pitting his opponents against each other, and by appealing to the American people with his powers of oratory.[2] His Gettysburg Address of 1863 became the most quoted speech in American history. It was an iconic statement of America's dedication to the principles of nationalism, republicanism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy.[3] At the close of the war, Lincoln held a moderate view of Reconstruction, seeking to reunite the nation speedily through a policy of generous reconciliation in the face of lingering and bitter divisiveness. Six days after the surrender of Confederate commanding general Robert E. Lee, however, Lincoln was assassinated by actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln's death was the first assassination of a U.S. president and sent the nation into mourning. Lincoln has been consistently ranked both by scholars[4] and the public[5] as one of the greatest U.S. presidents, if not the greatest.

Family and childhood

Early life
Main article: Early life and career of Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809, the second child of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Lincoln (ne Hanks), in a one-room log cabin on the Sinking Spring Farm in Hardin County, [6] Kentucky (now LaRue County). He is descended from Samuel Lincoln, who arrived in Hingham, [7] Massachusetts, from Norfolk, England, in the 17th century. Lincoln's paternal grandfather and namesake, Abraham, had moved his family from Virginia to Kentucky, where he was ambushed and [8] killed in an Indian raid in 1786, as his children, including Lincoln's father Thomas, looked on. Thomas [9] was left to make his own way on the frontier. Lincoln's mother, Nancy, was the daughter of Lucy Hanks, and was born in what is now Mineral County, West Virginia, then part of Virginia. Lucy moved with Nancy to Kentucky. Nancy Hanks married Thomas, who became a respected citizen. He bought

or leased several farms, including Knob Creek Farm. The family attended a Separate Baptists church, [10] which had restrictive moral standards and opposed alcohol, dancing, and slavery. Thomas enjoyed considerable status in Kentuckywhere he sat on juries, appraised estates, served on country slave patrols, and guarded prisoners. By the time his son Abraham was born, Thomas owned two 600-acre (240 ha) farms, several town lots, livestock, and horses. He was among the richest men in the county. [11] However, in 1816, Thomas lost all of his land in court cases because of faulty property titles.

The young Lincoln in sculpture at Senn Park, Chicago

The family moved north across the Ohio River to free (i.e., non-slave) territory and made a new start in what was then Perry County but is nowSpencer County, Indiana. Lincoln later noted that [11] this move was "partly on account of slavery" but mainly due to land title difficulties. In Indiana, when Lincoln was nine, his mother Nancy died of milk sickness in 1818. After the death of Lincoln's mother, his older sister, Sarah, took charge of caring for him until their father remarried in 1819; Sarah later [12] died in her 20s while giving birth to a stillborn son. Thomas Lincoln's new wife was the widow Sarah Bush Johnston, the mother of three children. [13] Lincoln became very close to his stepmother, and referred to her as "Mother". As a pre-teen, he did not like the hard labor associated with frontier life. Some in his family, and in the neighborhood, for a [14][15] time considered him to be lazy. As he grew into his teens, he willingly took responsibility for all chores expected of him as one of the boys in the household and became an adept axeman in his work building rail fences. He attained a reputation for brawn and audacity after a very competitive wrestling match to which he was challenged by the renowned leader of a group of ruffians, "the Clary's Grove [16] boys". Lincoln also agreed with the customary obligation of a son to give his father all earnings from [17] work done outside the home until age 21. In later years, Lincoln occasionally loaned his father [18] money. Lincoln became increasingly distant from his father, in part because of his father's lack of education. While young Lincoln's formal education consisted approximately of a year's worth of classes from several itinerant teachers, he was mostly self-educated and was an avid reader and often sought access to any new books in the village. He read and reread theKing James Bible, Aesop's Fables, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Defoe's Robinson [19][20] Crusoe, and Franklin's Autobiography. In 1830, fearing a milk sickness outbreak along the Ohio River, the Lincoln family moved west, [21] where they settled on public land in Macon County, Illinois, another free, non-slave state. In 1831, Thomas relocated the family to a new homestead in Coles County, Illinois. It was then that, as an ambitious 22-year-old who was now old enough to make his own decisions, Lincoln struck out on his own. Canoeing down the Sangamon River, Lincoln ended up in the village of New [22] Salem in Sangamon County. In the spring of 1831, hired by New Salem businessman Denton Offutt and accompanied by friends, he took goods by flatboat from New Salem to New Orleans via the

Sangamon, Illinois, and Mississippi rivers. After arriving in New Orleans and witnessing slavery [23] firsthandhe walked back home.

Marriage and children

Further information: Lincoln family tree, Medical and mental health of Abraham Lincoln, and Sexuality of Abraham Lincoln

1864 photo of President Lincoln with youngest son, Tad

Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln, age 28

Lincoln's first romantic interest was Ann Rutledge, whom he met when he first moved to New Salem; by 1835, they were in a relationship but not formally engaged. She died at the age of 22 on [24] August 25, 1835, most likely of typhoid fever. In the early 1830s, he met Mary Owens from Kentucky when she was visiting her sister. Late in 1836, Lincoln agreed to a match with Mary if she returned to New Salem. Mary did return in November 1836, and Lincoln courted her for a time; however, they both had second thoughts about their relationship. On August 16, 1837, Lincoln wrote Mary a letter suggesting he would not blame her if she ended the relationship. She never replied and [25] the courtship ended. In 1840, Lincoln became engaged to Mary Todd, who was from a wealthy slave-holding family [26] [27] in Lexington, Kentucky. They met in Springfield, Illinois, in December 1839 and were engaged the [28] following December. A wedding set for January 1, 1841, was canceled when the two broke off their [27][29] engagement at Lincoln's initiative. They later met again at a party and married on November 4, [30] 1842, in the Springfield mansion of Mary's married sister. While preparing for the nuptials and [31] feeling anxiety again, Lincoln, when asked where he was going, replied, "To hell, I suppose." In 1844, the couple bought a house in Springfield near Lincoln's law office. Mary Todd Lincoln [32] kept house, often with the help of a relative or hired servant girl. Robert Todd Lincoln was born in [33] 1843 and Edward Baker Lincoln (Eddie) in 1846. Lincoln "was remarkably fond of children", and the

Lincolns were not considered to be strict with their children. Edward died on February 1, 1850, in Springfield, probably of tuberculosis. "Willie" Lincoln was born on December 21, 1850, and died on February 20, 1862. The Lincolns' fourth son, Thomas "Tad" Lincoln, was born on April 4, [35] 1853, and died of heart failure at the age of 18 on July 16, 1871. Robert was the only child to live to adulthood and have children. His last descendant, grandson Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died in [36] 1985. The deaths of their sons had profound effects on both parents. Later in life, Mary struggled with the stresses of losing her husband and sons, and Robert Lincoln committed her temporarily to a [37] mental health asylum in 1875. Abraham Lincoln suffered from "melancholy", a condition which now [38] is referred to as clinical depression. Lincoln's father-in-law was based in Lexington, Kentucky; he and others of the Todd family were either slave owners or slave traders. Lincoln was close to the Todds, and he and his family [39] occasionally visited the Todd estate in Lexington. He was an affectionate, though often absent, husband and father of four children.

[34]

Early career and militia service

Further information: Early life and career of Abraham Lincoln and Abraham Lincoln in the Black Hawk War In 1832, at age 23, Lincoln and a partner bought a small general store on credit in New Salem, Illinois. Although the economy was booming in the region, the business struggled and Lincoln eventually sold his share. That March he began his political career with his first campaign for the Illinois General Assembly. He had attained local popularity and could draw crowds as a natural raconteur in New Salem, though he lacked an education, powerful friends, and money, which may be [40] why he lost. He advocated navigational improvements on the Sangamon River. Before the election, Lincoln served as a captain in the Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk [41] War. Following his return, Lincoln continued his campaign for the August 6 election for the Illinois [42] General Assembly. At 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm), he was tall and "strong enough to intimidate any rival". At his first speech, when he saw a supporter in the crowd being attacked, Lincoln grabbed the [43] assailant by his "neck and the seat of his trousers" and threw him. Lincoln finished eighth out of 13 candidates (the top four were elected), though he received 277 of the 300 votes cast in the New [44] Salem precinct. Lincoln served as New Salem's postmaster and later as county surveyor, all the while reading voraciously. He then decided to become a lawyer and began teaching himself law by reading Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England and other law books. Of his learning [45] method, Lincoln stated: "I studied with nobody". His second campaign in 1834 was successful. He won election to the state legislature; though he ran as a Whig, many Democrats favored him over a [46] [47] more powerful Whig opponent. Admitted to the bar in 1836, he moved to Springfield, Illinois, and [48] began to practice law under John T. Stuart, Mary Todd's cousin. Lincoln became an able and successful lawyer with a reputation as a formidable adversary during cross-examinations and closing arguments. He partnered with Stephen T. Logan from 1841 until 1844, when he began his practice [49] with William Herndon, whom Lincoln thought "a studious young man". He served four successive [50] terms in the Illinois House of Representatives as a Whig representative from Sangamon County. In the 183536 legislative session, he voted to expand suffrage to white males, whether [51] landowners or not. He was known for his "free soil" stance of opposing both slavery andabolitionism. He first articulated this in 1837, saying, "[The] Institution of slavery is founded on both

injustice and bad policy, but the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate [52] its evils." He closely followed Henry Clay in supporting the American Colonization Society program [53] of making the abolition of slavery practical by helping the freed slaves to settle in Liberia in Africa.

Congressman Lincoln
From the early 1830s, Lincoln was a steadfast Whig and professed to friends in 1861 to be, [54] "an old line Whig, a disciple of Henry Clay". The party, including Lincoln, favored economic modernization in banking, protective tariffs to fund internal improvements including railroads, and [55] espoused urbanization as well. In 1846, Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served one twoyear term. He was the only Whig in the Illinois delegation, but he showed his party loyalty by [56] participating in almost all votes and making speeches that echoed the party line. Lincoln, in collaboration with abolitionist Congressman Joshua R. Giddings, wrote a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia with compensation for the owners, enforcement to capture fugitive slaves, and a popular vote on the matter. He abandoned the bill when it failed to garner sufficient Whig [57] supporters. On foreign and military policy, Lincoln spoke out against the MexicanAmerican War, which he attributed to President Polk's desire for "military glorythat attractive rainbow, that rises in [58] showers of blood". Lincoln also supported the Wilmot Proviso, which, if it had been adopted, would [59] have banned slavery in any U.S. territory won from Mexico. Lincoln emphasized his opposition to Polk by drafting and introducing his Spot Resolutions. The war had begun with a Mexican slaughter of American soldiers in territory disputed by Mexico and the U.S.; Polk insisted that Mexican soldiers had "invaded our territory and shed the blood of our [60][61] fellow-citizens on our own soil". Lincoln demanded that Polk show Congress the exact spot on [61] which blood had been shed and prove that the spot was on American soil. Congress never enacted the resolution or even debated it, the national papers ignored it, and it resulted in a loss of political support for Lincoln in his district. One Illinois newspaper derisively nicknamed him "spotty [62][63][64] Lincoln". Lincoln later regretted some of his statements, especially his attack on the [65] presidential war-making powers. Realizing Clay was unlikely to win the presidency, Lincoln, who had pledged in 1846 to serve only one term in the House, supported General Zachary Taylor for the Whig nomination in the 1848 [66] presidential election. Taylor won and Lincoln hoped to be appointed Commissioner of the General Land Office, but that lucrative patronage job went to an Illinois rival,Justin Butterfield, considered by [67] the administration to be a highly skilled lawyer, but in Lincoln's view, an "old fossil". The administration offered him the consolation prize of secretary or governor of the Oregon Territory. This distant territory was a Democratic stronghold, and acceptance of the post would have effectively [68] ended his legal and political career in Illinois, so he declined and resumed his law practice.

Prairie lawyer

Lincoln in his late 30s photo taken by one of Lincoln's law students around 1846

Lincoln returned to practicing law in Springfield, handling "every kind of business that could [69] come before a prairie lawyer". Twice a year for 16 years, 10 weeks at a time, he appeared in county [70] seats in the midstate region when the county courts were in session. Lincoln handled many transportation cases in the midst of the nation's western expansion, particularly the conflicts arising from the operation of river barges under the many new railroad bridges. As a riverboat man, Lincoln [71] initially favored those interests, but ultimately represented whoever hired him. In fact, he later represented a bridge company against a riverboat company in a landmark case involving a canal boat [72][73] that sank after hitting a bridge. In 1849, he received a patent for a flotation device for the movement of boats in shallow water. The idea was never commercialized, but Lincoln is the only [74][75] president to hold a patent. In 1851, he represented the Alton & Sangamon Railroad in a dispute with one of its shareholders, James A. Barret, who had refused to pay the balance on his pledge to buy shares in the [76][77] railroad on the grounds that the company had changed its original train route. Lincoln successfully argued that the railroad company was not bound by its original charter in existence at the time of Barret's pledge; the charter was amended in the public interest to provide a newer, superior, and less expensive route, and the corporation retained the right to demand Barret's payment. The decision by the Illinois Supreme Court has been cited by numerous other courts in the [76] nation. Lincoln appeared before the Illinois Supreme Court in 175 cases, in 51 as sole counsel, of [78] which 31 were decided in his favor. From 1853 to 1860, another of Lincoln's largest clients was [79] the Illinois Central Railroad. Lincoln's most notable criminal trial occurred in 1858 when he defended William "Duff" [80] Armstrong, who was on trial for the murder of James Preston Metzker. The case is famous for Lincoln's use of a fact established by judicial notice in order to challenge the credibility of an eyewitness. After an opposing witness testified seeing the crime in the moonlight, Lincoln produced a Farmers' Almanac showing the moon was at a low angle, drastically reducing visibility. Based on this [80] evidence, Armstrong was acquitted. Lincoln rarely raised objections in the courtroom; but in an 1859 case, where he defended a cousin, Peachy Harrison, who was accused of stabbing another to death, Lincoln angrily protested the judge's decision to exclude evidence favorable to his client. Instead of holding Lincoln in contempt of court as was expected, the judge, a Democrat, reversed his ruling, [80][81] allowing the evidence and acquitting Harrison.

Assassination
Main articles: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln and Funeral and burial of Abraham Lincoln John Wilkes Booth was a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland; though he [246] never joined the Confederate army, he had contacts with the Confederate secret service. In 1864, Booth formulated a plan (very similar to one of Thomas N. Conrad previously authorized by the [247] Confederacy) to kidnap Lincoln in exchange for the release of Confederate prisoners.

Shown in the presidential booth of Ford's Theatre, from left to right, are Henry Rathbone, Clara Harris, Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln, and his assassin John Wilkes Booth.

After attending an April 11, 1865, speech in which Lincoln promoted voting rights for blacks, an incensed Booth changed his plans and became determined to assassinate the [248] president. Learning that the President, First Lady, and head Union general Ulysses S. Grant would be attending Ford's Theatre, Booth formulated a plan with co-conspirators to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of State William H. Seward and General Grant. Without his main bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln left to attend the playOur American Cousin on April 14. Grant, along with his wife, chose at the last minute to travel to Philadelphia instead of attending the [249] play. Lincoln's bodyguard, John Parker, left Ford's Theater during intermission to join Lincoln's coachman for drinks in the Star Saloon next door. The now unguarded President sat in his state box in the balcony. Seizing the opportunity, Booth crept up from behind and at about 10:13 pm, aimed at the back of Lincoln's head and fired at point-blank range, mortally wounding the President. Major Henry [250][251] Rathbonemomentarily grappled with Booth, but Booth stabbed him and escaped. After being on the run for 10 days, Booth was tracked down and found on a farm in Virginia, some 70 miles (110 km) south of Washington, D.C. After a brief fight with Union troops, Booth was [252] killed by Sergeant Boston Corbett on April 26. An Army surgeon, Doctor Charles Leale, was sitting nearby at the theater and immediately assisted the President. He found the President unresponsive, barely breathing and with no detectable pulse. Having determined that the President had been shot in the head, and not stabbed in the shoulder as originally thought, he made an attempt to clear the blood clot, after which the President [253] began to breathe more naturally. The dying President was taken across the street to Petersen House. After remaining in a coma for nine hours, Lincoln died at 7:22 am on April 15. Presbyterian minister Phineas Densmore Gurley, then present, was asked to offer a prayer, after which Secretary of [254] War Stanton saluted and said, "Now he belongs to the ages."

Lincoln's flag-enfolded body was then escorted in the rain to the White House by bareheaded Union officers, while the city's church bells rang. President Johnson was sworn in at 10:00 am, less than 3 hours after Lincoln's death. The late President lay in state in the East Room, and then in the Capitol Rotunda from April 19 through April 21. For his final journey with his son Willie, both caskets were transported in the executive coach "United States" and for three weeks the Lincoln [255] Special funeral train decorated in black bunting bore Lincoln's remains on a slow circuitous waypoint journey from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois stopping at many cities across the North for large-scale memorials attended by hundreds of thousands, as well as many people who gathered [256][257] in informal trackside tributes with bands, bonfires and hymn singing or silent reverence with hat in hand as the railway procession slowly passed by.